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Girls turn in season’s best shooting at holiday tourney

By Jan SchultzThe Imperial Republican A team won’t lose too many games when they shoot 51%. That’s what the Lady Longhorns tallied in their 48-36 win over Maxwell in the consolation finals of last week’s holiday tournament. Chase County’s girls’ and boys’ basketball teams took part in the closer-to-home Perkins County Holiday Tournament this year for the first time, after traveling to Alliance and Minden previously. Girls’ Coach Marc Mroczek said his team’s press was effective against Maxwell, most notably shutting them down in the third quarter. But, hitting 28 of 35 from two-point range was a big factor, too. It’s the best the Lady Longhorns have shot all season, easily passing their previous best of 36% at Goodland, Kan. Chase County got up early in the game, but Maxwell pulled within one, 11-10, at the first quarter’s end. Chase County outscored them again second quarter, but not by much, holding a 22-18 lead at the half. The big difference came in the third, when Maxwell was shut down to just five points scoring, while Chase County racked up 15. ”Our press was effective and it created a lot of turnovers,” Mroczek said. Then, switching his team to a zone press in the third quarter really caused Maxwell headaches. And, the Lady Longhorns did a better job rebounding second half, too. However, there were some areas Mroczek said need to improve, as he reviewed last Tuesday’s game. He noted there were times that Maxwell’s press bothered his team, forcing too many turnovers. Actually, Chase County had more turnovers in the game—36 to Maxwell’s 31. “We did have some problems with their press at times. We made some bad decisions, but they are correctable,” Mroczek said. A 4-4 Lady Longhorn record as they start the 2010 portion of their schedule is great to see, Mroczek said. “The girls and I are really happy with that record,” he said. Mroczek said he can’t remember a 4-4 record at this point in the season in previous years. It’s a good way to start off the new year, he said. Looking at stats from the Maxwell game, Chase County had two in double figures, with Lexee Reichert leading the way with 17 and Karlee Palmer scoring 10. Senior Jilanne German had her best game of the season, as she put up nine points and also had five rebounds. Reichert and Shannon Liewer each brought down seven rebounds to lead the team, while Liewer also had six steals and six assists.Chase County’s 51% shooting outdistanced the 29% from Maxwell from two-point range. From the free throw line, Chase County hit nine of 14 (64%) and Maxwell was six of nine (67%).Imperial 48 2 PT. 3 PT. FT/ FG FG FTA F TP Morgan Fisher 0 0 0-0 0 0Chantal Heathers 1 0 0-1 1 2Michaela Ketter 0 0 0-0 0 0Kayla Brown 0 0 0-0 0 0Bethany Sorensen 0 0 0-0 1 0Jilanne German 4 0 1-4 0 9Lexee Reichert 6 0 5-5 2 17Karlee Palmer 3 1 1-2 1 10Alexis Tropf 2 0 0-0 0 4Shannon Liewer 2 0 2-2 2 6Carolina Ramos 0 0 0-0 0 0Catarina Ramos 0 0 0-0 0 0TOTALS 18 0 9-14 7 48Maxwell 36M. Burke 10, K. Kleewein 6, K. Fletcher 5, M. Knapp 4, B. Boucher 6, K. Calhoun 2, H. Miller 3.Maxwell’s totals: 2 pt. FG—15; 3 pt. FG—0; FT/FTA—6-9; Fouls—19; TP—36.Points by quarters:Imperial 11 11 15 11—48Maxwell 10 8 5 13—36Schedule toughens this month It doesn’t get easier now that January is here. The Lady Longhorns get back to the regular season this Saturday, when Chase County hosts Wray, Colo., then the team travels to Grant for a rematch at Perkins County next Thursday, Jan. 14. After that, a tough SPVA conference tourney starts Jan. 18 in North Platte. Mroczek said Wray returns a two-time state championship team this year, but they lost 10 seniors from the 2008-09 team. However, Wray has a 5-1 record and a lot of returners who saw quite a bit of varsity action. Three of their starters are averaging in double figures. The schedule says action starts at 3 p.m. Saturday with “C” games, but there will be no girls “C” game, Mroczek said, due to low numbers. The girls’ JV will play three quarters starting at 4 p.m. in the Longhorn gym, followed there by girls’ varsity, then boys’ varsity. Next Thursday, the Lady Longhorns will meet Perkins County again, after losing to the Lady Plainsmen in the holiday tournament’s first game last week. Mroczek said his team didn’t play well against Perkins County last week. “But, we’ll have another shot at them next week,” he said. He’s happy for the longer break this week and next between games so they can get in some additional work at practice.